Jacob Hanselman, Monticello High School

Jacob Hanselman was born with only a thumb on his left hand  but he has never let that define him. In fact, it has driven him to a high-school career of sterling academic and athletic success and guided him toward a career in biomedical engineering. He has dreams of unraveling the mechanical complexities of the human hand. Tissue regeneration was not an option for me as a young child, Hanselman wrote in his entry for the Tribune's All-State Academic Team scholarship competition, but it is my dream that ... through research, families will have more options in the future. Failure's not an option for Jacob, said Tip Reedy, principal of Monticello High School, where Hanselman is wrapping up his senior year. He's a leader in the building and a role model for our kids. In the fall, Hanselman, 18, will head to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has already had a chance to work alongside researchers in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering. I've always had a passion for math and sciences, Hanselman said. But probably around my eighth-grade year, I had a chance to attend the engineering open house at U. of I. Seeing all the different robotics and things I thought were just science fiction, it clicked with me then. Last summer he spent eight weeks at the university as part of the American Cancer Society High School Research Program. But Hanselman's interests go far beyond science. He is a star soccer player at Monticello High, plays trumpet in the school band and had the lead role in this year's spring musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. As he prepares for college, Hanselman said he hopes to get his engineering degree and then go to graduate school for an MBA. The plan: Start a company that can create prosthetic limbs. The hand is such an immensely complicated object as it is, so to be a part of that research  I can't wait.  Rex W. Huppke

Jacob Hanselman was born with only a thumb on his left hand  but he has never let that define him. In fact, it has driven him to a high-school career of sterling academic and athletic success and guided him toward a career in biomedical engineering. He has dreams of unraveling the mechanical complexities of the human hand. Tissue regeneration was not an option for me as a young child, Hanselman wrote in his entry for the Tribune's All-State Academic Team scholarship competition, but it is my dream that ... through research, families will have more options in the future. Failure's not an option for Jacob, said Tip Reedy, principal of Monticello High School, where Hanselman is wrapping up his senior year. He's a leader in the building and a role model for our kids. In the fall, Hanselman, 18, will head to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has already had a chance to work alongside researchers in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering. I've always had a passion for math and sciences, Hanselman said. But probably around my eighth-grade year, I had a chance to attend the engineering open house at U. of I. Seeing all the different robotics and things I thought were just science fiction, it clicked with me then. Last summer he spent eight weeks at the university as part of the American Cancer Society High School Research Program. But Hanselman's interests go far beyond science. He is a star soccer player at Monticello High, plays trumpet in the school band and had the lead role in this year's spring musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. As he prepares for college, Hanselman said he hopes to get his engineering degree and then go to graduate school for an MBA. The plan: Start a company that can create prosthetic limbs. The hand is such an immensely complicated object as it is, so to be a part of that research  I can't wait.  Rex W. Huppke (Photo for the Tribune by Ben Woloszyn)

Jacob Hanselman was born with only a thumb on his left hand  but he has never let that define him. In fact, it has driven him to a high-school career of sterling academic and athletic success and guided him toward a career in biomedical engineering. He has dreams of unraveling the mechanical complexities of the human hand. Tissue regeneration was not an option for me as a young child, Hanselman wrote in his entry for the Tribune's All-State Academic Team scholarship competition, but it is my dream that ... through research, families will have more options in the future. Failure's not an option for Jacob, said Tip Reedy, principal of Monticello High School, where Hanselman is wrapping up his senior year. He's a leader in the building and a role model for our kids. In the fall, Hanselman, 18, will head to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has already had a chance to work alongside researchers in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering. I've always had a passion for math and sciences, Hanselman said. But probably around my eighth-grade year, I had a chance to attend the engineering open house at U. of I. Seeing all the different robotics and things I thought were just science fiction, it clicked with me then. Last summer he spent eight weeks at the university as part of the American Cancer Society High School Research Program. But Hanselman's interests go far beyond science. He is a star soccer player at Monticello High, plays trumpet in the school band and had the lead role in this year's spring musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. As he prepares for college, Hanselman said he hopes to get his engineering degree and then go to graduate school for an MBA. The plan: Start a company that can create prosthetic limbs. The hand is such an immensely complicated object as it is, so to be a part of that research  I can't wait.  Rex W. HuppkePhoto for the Tribune by Ben Woloszyn